Inquiry on the Plain
We’re growing inquiry in Nebraska where teachers and students are digging into the power of asking and answering compelling questions to enrich social studies. Students at the University of Nebraska have been working to create inquiries in collaboration with lots of partners; developing new ideas for connecting to the past and to our experiences in the present. Check back often to see the latest as inquiry continues to grow on the plains.
This new collection of inquiries has been prepared by educators who have been working to promote best practices in digital age pedagogy. Featuring the Inquiry Design Model (IDM), these instructional units provide students with opportunities to engage with disciplinary sources to develop make arguments and learn more about a wide variety of topics. In this collection, you’l find 58 inquiries on topics as varied as Manifest Destiny, Feudalism, and Mongolia. Thought provoking compelling questions frame each inquiry.
And, best of all these lessons are freely available to all Nebraska educators in OER Commons.
Emerging from a collaboration between educators at the University of Nebraska and North Carolina State University, this inquiry brings to instructional life the story and struggles of Ann (Anna) Williams. In November of 1815, an enslaved woman known only as Anna jumped out of a third floor window in Washington DC in what was assumed to be a suicide attempt. Presumed dead, abolitionists used her story to expose the harsh realities of slavery and advocate for better treatment of slaves. In 2015, the Oh Say Can You See: Early Washington DC Law research project uncovered an 1828 petition for freedom from an Ann Williams for herself and three children. This woman was the same “Anna” who had leapt from the window, still alive but severely injured from her fall, a contrast to the widely held belief that she had died in the fall. In 1832, a jury ruled in her favor, granting Ann and her three children freedom from master George Williams. Ann and her children went on to live free in Washington, subsisting on the weekly $1.50 that Ann’s still enslaved husband was able to provide for his family. This inquiry and the compelling question seeks to address the autonomy that enslaved African Americans had, and the question of what freedom meant to Anna.
The Anna Inquiry is part of a larger collection of inquiries on Teaching American Slavery. Learn more about this collection below.
https://c3teachers.org/teaching-american-slavery-through-inquiry/
Teacher education students at University of Nebraska have been working hard to develop inquiries and encourage students to learn more with compelling questions and disciplinary sources. Check out these new inquiries and more.
by Sarah Erb and Laura Sheldon
The US-Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Uprising, began in August of 1862 after a series of broken agreements by the US government towards the tribes. The primary agreement, payment for lands acquired from the Dakota people, was often delayed or entirely forgotten with Union preoccupation with the Civil War. With land not suited for farming and increasingly limited hunting, the tribes were soon struggling to feed their people. Local traders grew reluctant to offer credit, and the Dakota tribes soon felt they had no other option but an armed uprising. Their attacks created a lot of fear amongst whites in the area, and they eventually turned to the federal government for reinforcements. Following surrender in late September, 303 Sioux prisoners were put on trial. On December 26, 1862, 38 of these prisoners were hanged for their crimes in the largest execution in US history. This war offers a glimpse into a larger pattern of injustice by the United States towards Native Americans, and this inquiry seeks to change the narrative to reflect the breadth of persecution faced by Native Americans.
by Jesse Rood
This inquiry leads students through an investigation of the ways that baseball and other activities have shaped culture in small American towns. Today, sports seem to be an integral part of everyday life. From youth leagues, to school, and with professionals, sports permeate our everyday life. It’s also big business. This inquiry asks about how one sport, baseball, in particular has shaped local communities in history. Baseball has been thought of as the American national pastime. Of baseball, no less an authority on America than Walt Whitman said, “That’s beautiful: the hurrah game! well — it’s our game: that’s the chief fact in connection with it: America’s game: has the snap, go, fling, of the American atmosphere — belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitutions, laws: is just as important in the sum total of our historic life.” With this inquiry, we can test out Whitman’s claim.
Also check out this Blog Post from Jesse about his work on this inquiry.